Muslim Association of Britain

The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) is a British Muslim organisation founded in 1997. MAB has been well known for its participation in the protests opposing the Iraq war.

The current president is Dr Omer El-Hamdoon and the vice-president is Mohammad Kozbar.

MAB's vision

The vision of the Muslim Association of Britain is: "Muslims At Their Best."

Anti-war activities

Along with Stop the War Coalition (StWC) and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, it has co-sponsored various demonstrations against the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq. MAB first started working with the StWC in 2002 when they agreed to join together a demonstration they had planned to mark the anniversary of the Second Palestinian Intifada with a demonstration StWC had planned against the looming Iraq war at the opening of the Labour party. The march took place under the dual slogans 'Don't attack Iraq' and 'Freedom for Palestine'. According to Altikriti, MAB ‘spoke to Stop the War and we said to them, we will join you; however we will not become part of your coalition, we will be a separate and independent entity but we will work together with you on a national basis as part of the anti-war movement’. This reassured MAB that it would not ‘melt into that big coalition’ that was known to be led by the Left. They would remain a distinct and autonomous bloc, able to shape the agenda. Altikriti and others in the MAB leadership were working to persuade members that collaboration with non-Muslim anti-war activists was halal (religiously permissible) and that it was within the remit of their organisation. Their argument was that, if gender-segregated spaces and halal food could be provided at meetings, demonstrations and other events, then Muslims could participate in the anti-war movements without being assimilated.